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This Hidden Treasure Is Remaking Itself

The company is spinning new products like silk for a cocoon.

Since taking over, Jamba(Nasdaq: JMBA) CEO James White has made his vision pretty clear: He wants to transform the company from a small smoothie shop to a full-fledged lifestyle brand. To do that, the company needs to move its business away from lagging smoothie sales and toward a broader product array.

This is a big task, but Jamba is making progress and has shown it isn't afraid to take on big competitors in the process. Here are some of the moves Jamba has made on this journey.

The most recent and possibly most natural move Jamba has made is its new line of frozen yogurt. This segment has lots of competition from both mom-and-pop shops as well as giants like Pinkberry. The difference is that Jamba's yogurt is made with just three basic flavors -- tart, vanilla, and chocolate -- blended to order with fresh fruit or other healthy ingredients like almonds or granola.

This might not seem like a big step away from smoothies, but the advantage is that "froyo" is much faster to make, which should help improve traffic during busy hours. The company also thinks it will help improve sales during the evening hours, when many customers are just looking for a snack or after-dinner dessert, and not a big smoothie.

Jamba is also looking at warmer offerings like coffee and oatmeal to help boost winter sales. Again, there is big competition, mainly from Goliaths such as Starbucks(Nasdaq: SBUX) and McDonald's(NYSE: MCD). But the point of differentiation here is again the focus on quality, healthy options. Jamba's coffee and other hot drinks are made one cup at a time with all-organic ingredients. The oatmeal is made with organic steel-cut oats, instead of Starbucks' instant oatmeal.

Jamba will even be taking on Hansen's(Nasdaq: HANS) Monster and Coca-Cola's(NYSE: KO) Full Throttle when it releases its new all-natural, fruit-based energy drinks, made in partnership with Nestle. This is another natural move for Jamba, but one that moves sales out of the stores and into a wider distribution channel.

Most customers I've talked to are unaware of these changes, and judging by the stagnant stock price, investors are clueless, too, or else they're deeply skeptical. The one thing the company could probably do better is to get the word out more, because this caterpillar will be a butterfly soon.

Fool contributorJacob Rochenow has more than six frozen yogurt options within a couple miles of his house, with the addition of Jamba's froyo. He owns Jamba stock and call diagonals on Starbucks but holds no position in any of the other companies mentioned.Coca-Cola is aMotley Fool Inside Valuechoice. Hansen Natural is aRule Breakersrecommendation. Starbucks is aStock Advisorpick. Coca-Cola is aGlobal Gainsrecommendation. Coca-Cola is anIncome Investorrecommendation. The Fool owns shares of Coca-Cola. Try any of our Foolish newsletter servicesfree for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.